The Spillover Effects of Migrant Peers: Consequence for Local and Migrant Students

• In Event: 15.060 - MTCC Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: 15.060-8 - Multiple Perspectives on Structural and Cultural Inequalities Across International Contexts

Abstract

Using a unique and rich dataset from China, this study examines the educational spillover effects of migrant students on the academic achievement for local and migrant students. By exploiting the random within-grade-by-school variation in the share of migrant students in classes, this analysis shows that, migrant peers influence the academic achievement for both local and migrant students. Local students are negatively affected by the share of migrant students. For students with a migration background, weak negative effects are found for their academic achievement. The effects are also highly nonlinear and heterogeneity. My findings have important policy implications for the debate of migrant integration in urban schools, and for distribution of educational resources across schools.

Author

• Wu Wei, The Chinese University of Hong Kong